The invention is an improvement in the locking mechanism disclosed in the Karl Jwuc U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,867. The locking mechanism of this patent employs a lock lifting lever having a specially configured free distal end which carries a trunion around which the U-shaped lock tiltably rotates. Occasionally this end of the lever becomes hung up on a rib that is formed in the chamber of the head of the car coupler adjacent the lever. Further, the locking mechanism of this patent is such that, when the lock is lifted from a normal rest position in interlocked relation with a closed knuckle, the unbalanced weighting of the lock about the trunion created by the eccentric mounting of the lock on the trunion of the lever, causes the lock to tilt and rotate freely to a lockset position, where the knuckle is free to rotate from a closed to an open position. There is no positive engagement of the lock with any other component of the coupler to cause initial movement of the lock to the lockset position. The present invention is directed to the solution of these two problems.
Briefly stated, the invention is in a car coupler comprising a chambered head having a front face, and a knuckle which is mounted adjacent the face for rotation between a closed position and an open position. The head is provided with an abutment which is in spaced relation from the front face. A U-shaped lock is disposed within the chambered head and is movable between a first position, where the lock holds the knuckle in the closed position, and a lockset position, where the knuckle is free to rotate from a closed to an open position. A lever is movable within the chambered head and coacts with the lock to move the lock from the first position to the lockset position. The lever is provided at one end thereof, with (I) a trunion which projects from the end into engagement with the lock, the lock being eccentrically mounted for tiltable rotation on the trunion, and (II) a lug which projects from the end in opposed relation to the trunion and engages the abutment to limit axial movement of the trunion and prevent disengagement of the trunion from the lock. Another aspect of the invention is the provision on the lever of a wedging surface to engage the lock and facilitate tiltable rotation of the lock to the lockset position.